1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive device that transports a disk inserted through a disk insertion slot to the inside of the body of the device to perform, for example, a reproducing operation and, in particular, to a disk detection mechanism that detects insertion and ejection of a disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
In-car disk drive devices that mount a compact disc (CD) or a digital versatile disc (DVD) therein may include a device body having a horizontally long disk insertion slot formed in the front surface, a transport mechanism for automatically transporting a disk between the disk insertion slot and a play position, a drive mechanism that chucks the disk at the play position and rotatingly drives the disk, and a disk detection mechanism that detects insertion and/or ejection of the disk (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-228903).
The transport mechanism may include a roller bracket and a guide top (a pinching member). The roller bracket supports a transport roller and the guide top pinches a disk between itself and the transport roller. The roller bracket is biased by an elastic force of a spring in a direction in which the transport roller moves closer to the lower surface of the guide top.
The drive mechanism may include a turntable rotated by a motor serving as a drive source, a clamper that chucks a disk between itself and the turntable, and an optical pickup that records and/or reproduces information on the disk. The optical pickup may be movable in the radial direction of the disk.
As illustrated in FIG. 15, the disk detection mechanism may include a support plate 100 fixed to the upper or lower surface of the device body, a pair of detection levers 102 each supported by the support plate 100 in a rotatable manner about a spindle 101, a pair of detection pins 103 each upstanding on the top end of one of the detection levers 102, and a pair of springs 104 each urging one of the detection levers 102 in a direction in which the detection pins 103 move closer to each other. The detection mechanism may also include a detection switch (not illustrated) that is turned on and off by rotation of the detection levers 102. The detection pins 103 are disposed on an inner side of the disk insertion slot.
A disk drive device having such a configuration has an eject state in which a disk is not mounted in the device body. As illustrated in FIG. 15, in the eject state, each of two detection levers 102 is pulled by a tension force from the spring 104 and stays at an initial position. The distance between the two detection pins 103 is maintained at a minimum distance L. At that time, if a disk D is inserted into the inside of the device body through the disk insertion slot, the outer periphery of the disk D is brought into contact with the detection pins 103. Accordingly, each of the detection pins 103 is moved outward (in a direction indicated by a dashed line) and, thus, each of the detection levers 102 rotates about the spindle 101 from the initial position toward an operating position. As a result, the detection switch is turned on by the rotation of the detection lever 102, and an operation signal is output. The transport roller rotates in a predetermined direction in response to the operation signal. Consequently, the disk D is pinched between the transport roller and the guide top and is transported to the play position. At the play position, a reproducing operation is performed on the disk D by the optical pickup. Note that the distance between the detection pins 103 gradually increases as the disk D is transported. The distance is maximized when the diameter of the disk D coincides with a line extending between the two detection pins 103. Thereafter, the distance gradually decreases and reaches the minimum distance L again.
In addition, if an eject button is activated when the disk D is located at the play position, the chucked disk D is released and the transport roller is rotatingly driven in a direction opposite to the above-described direction. Accordingly, the disk D is pinched between the transport roller and the guide top and is transported toward the disk insertion slot. If the disk D reaches such a position that almost an entire portion of the disk D protrudes from the disk insertion slot, an operation signal is output from the above-described detection switch. Thus, rotation of the transport roller is stopped in response to the operation signal. By gripping the disk D, a user can remove the disk D from the device body.